Kathmandu, Dec 30 (IANS) Nepal’s anti-corruption body Monday ordered 35,000 government staff to pay cash penalty of Nepalese Rs.5,000 ($52) each for not submitting their property details, officials said.
To make sure that the bureaucrats are not making money by foul means, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) requires government employees to make their property details public within 60 days of joining service and within 60 days of the expiry of the fiscal year annually.
“We have decided to penalise the officials for their negligence in furnishing their property details,” Shreedhar Sapkota, CIAA spokesperson told Xinhua by phone.
He said the penalised officials range from lower level to first class gazetted officers, including two ambassadors.
“I have asked the secretaries of all ministries to collect the penalty amount from the staff under their agency within 30 days from now,” Sapkota said, adding that the CIAA has also directed the ministries to get the details of property within the same period.
“Those government staff still failing to comply will be brought under CIAA’s scanner and their property will be thoroughly inspected,” an official at the CIAA told Xinhua preferring anonymity.
Nepal, according to several international studies, is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Despite repeated attempts by Nepal’s anti-graft bodies and civil rights activists, the government has found it tough to check the menace.